


Boys

by hhhellcat



Category: Song of the Lioness - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-29
Updated: 2012-05-29
Packaged: 2017-11-06 06:26:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/415786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hhhellcat/pseuds/hhhellcat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gary is disquieted by a revelation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Boys

**Author's Note:**

> Written in 2008 for innerslytherin's request for Alanna/Gary, in the castle. 
> 
> Tamora Pierce, the original Sheroe, owns it all.

"Wait up, youngling," Gary called as he kicked his horse into a trot to catch up to his friend. Since becoming a squire, he didn't get to see Alan all that often and he missed his friend's tart, if amusing, observations. Jonathan was still a page which meant that he still had classes with the other boy, and they'd naturally gravitated toward one another in the absence of the older four of their group. All the same, there was an itch between his shoulder blades sometimes when he'd come across them, heads bent over a book as they worked on their homework. He was mature enough to admit to his jealousy, even if he didn't quite understand the reason for it.

Alanna swung her head around to peer over her left shoulder and grinned a greeting. "Squire Gary! How nice of you to deign to speak with me," she teased. She suffered the automatic cuffing of her shoulder when he caught up to her and smirked when her mare tossed her head in warning. "Shh, Moonlight," she soothed as she patted her neck. "Gary's only playing. He knows I'd take him down if he really wanted a tussle."

"Sure you would," he laughed. "Because wrestling's your best subject." There was a fading bruise on Alan's cheek and he pointed it out. "Whose work is this one, eh? Geoffrey or Sacherell?"

Her purple eyes narrowed in mock-annoyance at his teasing. "Douglass, actually. I don't know how I'm expected to win when all of them outweigh me by several stone." She was sure that he, like their friends, suspected who the real culprit was but she refused to name him. She'd take on Ralon when she was ready and not a moment sooner.

"Face it, young Trebond. You're not." His teeth flashed in a grin. "I hear that you've improved with your sword work, though."

It never failed to amaze her how much he knew about what was going on in the castle. She made a face and shrugged. "Well, I didn't make Coram wish he was dead when your father visited, this time around." Her cheeks grew pink at the memory of her first exhibition with a sword, and the flush remained there when he couldn't quite cover his snicker.

They slowed their mounts at the stables and led them into their respective stalls, keeping up a steady conversation while grooming the horses. Gary finished first and propped his shoulder against the door in Alan's stall to watch his friend finish his task. His determination to do everything himself was as admirable as it was frustrating at times, but if there was one thing he understood, it was pride. Alan had that in spades. "I haven't been to the city in a while. How's our friend?"

"Oh, you know," Alanna shrugged, flashing a grin. She thought of the lessons George gave her most nights when she snuck out from the castle and said, "Busy. They miss you down there though. We should go together the next time we both have a morning free."

"What's wrong with right now?"

"We'd miss dinner," she pointed out. "And I was going to work with Jon on our homework afterward." 

"You worry too much. Besides, you can always sneak into Jon's room later to study and we could eat at the Dancing Dove." It was reckless in the extreme to skip an appearance at the evening meal when Alan, still a page, was one of the servers. His knight master wouldn't look too kindly upon his own absence, either. Gary shrugged his broad shoulders uncomfortably at Alan's sharp look of chastisement and sighed. "Fine. We'll show up to dinner. Fine day this is when I'm being reminded of duty by a mere page."

"May I remind you that you're the one who educated me about what is proper here, squire?" Alanna shook her head and cuffed him soundly in the arm before sprinting out the door. She might not be able to outfight the boys, but she was small and a lot quicker on her feet. She grinned broadly at his outraged huff and put on speed at the sound of his heavy footsteps pounding toward the castle behind her.

She liked dinner duty well enough since she waited on Myles and she'd put the fun with Gary out of her mind by the time the king and queen left the dining hall. As usual, she found herself escorting the inebriated knight to his rooms once she'd partaken of her own meal, then left to seek out her study partner. A large shadow separated itself from the wall in a dimly lit corridor she sometimes took as a shortcut back to her rooms. Thinking it was Ralon, she stiffened slightly, hands clenched into fists at her side in preparation for yet another thrashing. The flash of teeth she saw was too friendly for her enemy, however, and she was close enough to make out his features in the gloom a few steps later.

Alan's reaction didn't escape him, but even slightly intoxicated by the wine he'd drunk at his own meal, Gary kept his own counsel, choosing instead to nod amiably. "Jon said he'll come to your room tomorrow morning before first bell to work on your history homework. Come on." He didn't give him a chance to refuse, simply wrapped his hand around the other boy's elbow to half-drag him along.

"Where are we going?" she asked though she had a feeling she already knew the answer. She couldn't help noticing how warm her friend's hand was around her arm, or admiring the strength in his grip. A slight grin of amusement played on her lips. If he knew that Alan of Trebond was really Lady Alanna, Gary would never have assumed to touch her so roughly. Or with so proprietary a grip. The second observation gave her pause and she dug in her heels to slow him down. "Come on, Gary, let up."

"To the Dancing Dove, of course," he whispered. His footfalls were quiet on the stone floor to aide in a stealthy escape, but if he needed to drag his young friend, they'd make more noise than was wise.

"I don't want to get up before the first bell to do homework," she whined softly. She already woke long before then to work on her exercises and she wouldn't be able to if her daily schedule was disrupted like this. Besides, she was already planning on a trip into the city later, once the day's assignments had been seen to. "I'll go work with Jon right now and then we can go in about an hour."

The strange twitch he felt whenever Alan passed up an opportunity to do something with him in favor of being with the prince returned. "I'll help you with your homework if you insist on doing it before fun, but tonight's for you and me, Trebond." He'd finally worked it out over dinner that a part of him felt rejected whenever Alan and Jon were together, heads bent over some scroll. He might not be the heir to the kingdom, but his pedigree wasn't anything to scoff at, either.

Alanna's brows furrowed and she snapped, angry now that he hadn't let her go yet. "I'm not the one who needed help this time, Jon did. He says I explain the battles better." She gave a tug that she needed to repeat several times before he finally let go and finally realized that he wasn't as steady on his feet as she'd first taken him to be. She sniffed the air and stared at him, incredulous. "Are you drunk?"

"Of course not," he scoffed. He had an insane urge to do something stupid, something he couldn't quite believe that he'd even considered. He was appalled that the thought even crossed his mind. Gary gave Alan a slight shove and said with more sneer than he'd intended, "Go on then, go help his royal Highness."

She stood there where she'd stumbled to a halt and watched her friend, expression troubled. Her heart ached when he snarled at her to leave and she bid him a quiet goodnight. "Sleep it off, Gary. You're not a very good drunk," she whispered as she left.

He scrubbed a hand over his face and dropped his head back in despair, falling against the wall for a few moments before he pushed off and headed for his own room. Feeling like second best to Jon couldn't even compare to the tug on his insides as he replayed his friend's wounded expression. And the insane desire he'd had for a moment to haul the younger man against him and press their mouths together. Gary struggled through the haze in his mind to analyze the strange notion and fell into bed fully dressed. When he woke the following morning with his mouth feeling like cotton and his head being split apart from the inside, he decided it had been the drink. He didn't _really_ like boys, did he?

**Five years later**

Never in his wildest imaginings! Even hours after retiring for bed, his squire snoring loudly in the adjoining room, Gary lay awake pondering. So Alan was really Alanna. He smiled to himself thinking of the wonderful joke it all was. Her revelation on their ride that afternoon had cleared up so many things for him that had puzzled him over the years, including his inexplicable attraction to a male. The _only_ male he'd ever desired, at that. He folded his arms behind his head and grinned outright. He didn't really like boys after all.


End file.
